May 27, 2026 – Cavalier County Job Development Authority, Ecostrat and the BDO Zone Initiative are pleased to announce the issue of a BDO Zone ‘A’ Rating for Cavalier County, N.D. The BDO Zone is the first rating in the state of North Dakota and the first rating in North America for canola seed, rated for 565,000 tons per year within a 75-mile radius of Munich, N.D.

Now we’re talking! Air conditioning appreciation season is finally here! Nothing like a few straight days of 80 degrees to confirm the summer we’ve been waiting for has arrived. Are you loving it? The plants can live outside where they belong! The crops are going in, which is so great to see, and road construction…if you’ve been south of Langdon late-ly, you know what I’m talking about.

Some weekends seem to capture everything that makes small-town life special. This past weekend was one of them.

Sometimes life delivers a gut punch that you’re not prepared for. Last weekend was Memorial Day weekend, which was full of the normal craziness around town with baseball games, graduation receptions, and Memorial Day services. I decided to stay home rather than go to Bismarck for state track, so I was able to take in a few exciting regional baseball games as well as attend quite a few graduation receptions. In all the busyness of the weekend, Memorial Day Monday rolled around, and I forgot to pick up flowers for the graves. In the past, this was something that my mother-inlaw, Carol, had always taken care of. After she passed away, I knew that someone had to step in and take over for these types of things. For the past two years I have remembered to bring flowers, but this year I forgot. When the matriarch of the family is suddenly gone, someone has to pick up the pieces, and apparently, I haven’t done a very good job of filling her shoes. Gut punch number one.

By Bob Simmons, CEO, Simmons Multimedia I last left you with the understanding that I’d be going in for a procedure to repair my T12 vertebrae, which was fractured in a fall on black ice nearly two months ago. I was scheduled for a noon rendezvous with the surgeon on Friday, May 22.

Last week, our editor, Sarah Overby, suggested that someone write a helpful column on how to organize – and survive! – graduation preparations. Having planned, organized, prepped, stressed, and survived two graduations in the past three years, I feel that I am qualified to tackle an advice column on the subject.

If you’ve been following along over the past few weeks, you know I broke my back (T12) getting out of my pickup to get gas. In a nutshell, I didn’t notice the cement pad where the fuel island is located was covered in black ice. (See “Down Goes Simmons,” The Borderland Press, May 1.) As I wrote last week’s column, more than two months had passed, and I had yet to see a specialist. Dr. Sam at LPH took another run at Altru in Grand Forks for me, The new Altru facility is gorgeous. I walked through the doors and was met by a cheery receptionist. “Can I help you?” she asked. “Yes, you certainly can – Bob Simmons. I have a 1 p.m. appointment with Interventional Radiology,” I replied. She said — and I quote — “Yes, doctor, straight down the hall to your left.”

We have a kamikaze bird in our backyard….specifically, a male robin. For a good two hours on Sunday afternoon, and again Monday morning, he repeatedly threw himself into our west-facing window, leaving a blotch of mud on the glass every time.

A few weeks ago I boldly declared in this very column that outdoor track season was my favorite time of the year. Looking back now, I would like to formally apologize to the entire state of North Dakota because apparently I jinxed spring.

I woke up at 4 a.m. this morning to write this column. I didn’t wake up on purpose, but once I was up and began thinking about the day before, I had to get up and write down as much as I could while it was still fresh in my mind.